Source: United States Navy
SINGAPORE – Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)/Marine Exercise (MAREX) Singapore 2022 concluded in Singapore, Jan. 13, following five days of in-person and at-sea engagements that enhanced collaboration between the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and U.S. military.
Source: United States Navy
MEDITERRANEAN SEA – The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) partnered to complete first-of-a-kind exercises that incorporated Navy and USAF expertise and assets in December 2022. Jackpot Hooligan II – a maritime strike exercise, demonstrated the capability of an MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and elements of Carrier Strike Group 10 to integrate and close the structure of attack to eliminate a target or ‘kill chain’ in an anti-surface warfare mission.
Source: United States Navy
While in the South China Sea, the strike group is conducting maritime strike training, anti-submarine operations, integrated multi-domain and joint training between surface and air elements, and flight operations with fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Carrier operations in the South China Sea are part of the U.S. Navy’s routine operations in the Indo-Pacific.
“The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group has the capability to deliver integrated lethal and non-lethal effects from space to undersea, across every axis, and every domain,” said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11. “Our Sailors’ tenacity and warfighting prowess are unmatched and a testimony to our country’s determination to work alongside our Allies and partners to maintain free and open seas.”
The CSG 11 staff is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG 108), the squadrons and staff of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW 17), and the staffs of Destroyer Squadron Nine (DESRON 9) are attached to the strike group and provide unparalleled firepower across all domains – air, sea and land.
The squadrons that make up CVW 17 are the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 (VFA 22), “Mighty Shrikes” of Strike Fighter Squadron 94 (VFA 94), “Kestrels” of Strike Fighter Squadron 137 (VFA 137), “Blue Diamonds” of Strike Fighter Squadron 146 (VFA 146), “Cougars” of Electronic Attack Squadron 139 (VAQ 139), “Sun Kings” of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 116 (VAW 116), “Battlecats” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 (HSM 73) and the “Screamin’ Indians” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 (HSC 6).
The strike group remains committed to protecting the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea, and upholding the rules-based international order alongside Allies and partners. CSG 11 demonstrates the ability to deliver overwhelming maritime force if called upon.
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is currently underway in 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy‘s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Source: United States Department of Justice News
KEVIN IMAN McCORMICK, 29, of Hamden, pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jean Pierre Njock of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Haven Division made the announcement.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between August and October 2019, McCormick made several statements to others expressing a desire to travel to Syria and to fight for ISIS. In one conversation in October 2019, McCormick stated “I gotta fight bro, because those people, Abu Masa and ISIL, they fought for me bro, I know it, I can feel it, in my heart. So it’s my time to fight . . . It just is what it is bro, it’s just my – it’s just my time to go bro.” When McCormick was asked to elaborate on where he would like to travel, McCormick responded, “I don’t know, I don’t know bro – it’s gotta be like Syria. Where ISIL is at….whichever place is easiest, whatever place I can get there the fastest, the quickest, the easiest, and where I can have a rifle and I can have some people bro. That’s what I need, I need a rifle and I need some people, I need Islamic law, I need, that’s what I need, because if I have these things, it’s gonna to be very hard to kill me.”
On October 12, 2019, McCormick attempted to board a flight from Connecticut to Jamaica, but was prevented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. McCormick subsequently told an individual that he wanted to travel to Jamaica, and then onward to Syria to join ISIS. He also indicated that he wanted to acquire weapons.
On October 19, 2019, McCormick made a video during which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Also on that date, he purchased a plane ticket from Toronto, Canada, to Amman, Jordan. On October 21, 2019, McCormick was arrested after he traveled to a small private airport in Connecticut where he expected to board a plane that would fly him to Canada.
McCormick has been detained since his arrest.
The charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. McCormick is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley on April 6.
This matter has been investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Town of Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, and New York Police Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed of the District of Connecticut and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and John Cella from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Source: United States Department of Justice News
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Kou Yang, 27, Wausau, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 5 years in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Yang pleaded guilty to this charge on October 5, 2022.
In August 2021, an undercover police officer bought large quantities of methamphetamine from Yang on two separate occasions. After Yang’s arrest, he admitted to purchasing half pound and pound quantities of methamphetamine from local methamphetamine dealers for later distribution to customers.
In sentencing Yang, Judge Conley highlighted that Yang was under state supervision at the time of his arrest for drug trafficking and had learned very little from his prior conviction and prison sentence. He further stressed that, in addition to drug trafficking, the defendant had a significant criminal history involving domestic violence and firearm possession.
The charge against Yang was the result of an investigation conducted by the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Reinhard prosecuted this case.